On and on they trudged, Marquis pulling at his leash as if he had been a blind man’s dog, and on and on beside them crept their shadows, flattened out into strange distortion upon the road.  But when they had come within about two miles of Raglan, whether it was that the sense of proximity to his mistress grew strong in him, or that he scented the Great Mogul, as the horse the battle from afar, Marquis began to grow restless, and to sniff about on one side of the way.  When at length they had by a narrow bridge crossed a brook, the dog insisted on leaving the road and going down into the meadow to the left.  Richard made small resistance, and that only for experiment upon the animal’s determination.  Across field after field his guide led him, until, but for the great keep towering dimly up into the moonlit sky, he could hardly have even conjectured where he was.  But he was well satisfied, for, ever as they came out of copse or hollow, there was the huge thing in the sky, nearer than before.

At last he was able to descry a short stretch of the castle rampart, past which, away to the westward, the dog was pulling, along a rough cart-track through a field.  This he presently found to be a quarry road, and straight into the quarry the dog went, pulling eagerly; but Richard was compelled to follow with caution, for the ground was rough and broken, and the moon cast black misleading shadows.  Towards the blackest of these the dog led, and entered a hollow way.  Richard went straight after him, guarding his head with his arm, lest he might meet a sudden descent of the roof, and lengthening his leash to the utmost, that he might have timely warning of any descent of the floor.

It was a very rough tunnel, the intent of which will afterwards appear, forming part of one of lord Herbert’s later contrivances for the safety of the castle; but so well had Mr. Salisbury, the surveyor, managed, that not one of the men employed upon it had an idea that they were doing more than working the quarry for the repair of the fortifications.

From the darkness, and the cautious rate at which he had to proceed, holding back the dog who tugged hard at the whip, Richard could not even hazard a conjecture as to the distance they had advanced, when he heard the noise of a small runnel of water, which seemed from the sound to make abrupt descent from some little height.  He had gone but a few paces further when the handle of the whip received a great upward pull and was left loose in his grasp:  the dog was away, leaving his handkerchief at the end of the thong.  So now he had to guide himself, and began to feel about him.  He seemed at first to have come to the end of the passage, for he could touch both sides of it by stretching out his arms, and in front a tiny stream of water came down the face of the rough rock; but what then had become of Marquis?  The answer seemed plain:  the water must come from somewhere, and doubtless its channel had spare room enough for the dog to pass thither.  He felt up the rock, and found that, at about the height of his head, the water came over an obtuse angle.  Climbing a foot or two, he discovered that the opening whence it issued was large enough for him to enter.